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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: content · chest · drill · rest · cap · tear

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. cap — of ice
  3. content — the amount
  4. chest — of your body
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cap — a lid
  7. chest — a box
  8. drill — a practice
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rest — what's left
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. drill — the tool
  13. tear — to rip
  14. cap — a hat
  15. tear — from crying
  16. content — happy
  17. rest — a break
  18. drill — army training

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com